AT&T survey finds most consumers aren’t aware of broadband subsidies

As of October 2021, the majority of people in AT&T’s 21-state footprint were not aware of the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. According to a survey conducted by Recon Analytics on behalf of AT&T, 55% of consumers were not aware of the EBB program. Recon Analytics used Qualtrics to conduct the online survey, which garnered more than 10,000 respondents. Only 12% of respondents were aware of the program and had applied for EBB benefits. Curiously, 13% of respondents who were aware of the program and qualified for it had not yet applied for benefits. According to the AT&T survey, there were some substantial variations in awareness of the EBB benefits. Sixty one percent of people in Kansas were not aware of the program, while things were better in Kentucky, where 47% of respondents were unaware. Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders had the highest awareness followed by Black or African Americans. It’s possible that grassroots outreach campaigns were more effectively targeting these groups. People 44 years of age and younger also had more awareness of EBB than those over age 44.